The FWC has taken the National Audit Office to task for revoking permission for a veteran public servant "at increased risk" from COVID-19 to work from home and then sacking her after she refused to return to Canberra while she cared for her dying uncle at their second residence.
People managers in organisations making this year's Workplace Gender Equality Agency employer of choice list have for the first time had to train-up on flexible working arrangements and how to deal with resistance to gender equality objectives.
Victoria's Andrews Labor Government will later this week remove its longstanding COVID-19 public health recommendation to work from home if possible, after a big drop in virus-related hospitalisations and a substantial rise in vaccination third-doses.
The "no enhancements" clause in the Federal public sector's bargaining policy could stymie the adoption of WFH provisions in Australian Public Service enterprise agreements, according to the CPSU's national secretary.
The NSW IRC has rejected a nurse's bid for a flexible working arrangement under the State public sector's "if not, why not" regime to enable her to meet her caring responsibilities.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of an AFP employee who refused to meet with its "trojan horse" organisational health team while resisting a return to the office.
A tribunal has upheld Queensland Health's rejection of a HR advisor's bid to continue working from home when she relocates to NSW, on the basis that face-to-face contact is a requirement of the role.
An IR specialist has told a labour law conference that if employees can demonstrate it will not reduce productivity or service, it might become increasingly difficult for employers to validly refuse flexibility requests for four-day working weeks.
A Productivity Commission-convened work from home seminar has heard how employers are managing the challenges of "hybrid workplaces", dealing with potential OHS and management issues and rethinking how they bring people together.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned five distinct work-from-home models, according to the authors of a FWC-commissioned study that found formal policies and relatively fixed hours are key to a successful WFH strategy.
